The Kings took their first lead of the game 4:23 into the final period when Brown flicked a wrister past Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen. They added an insurance goal at 11:35 when Clifford scored his first of the season. Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 33 shots to earn his sixth win of the season and help the Kings avoid going without a victory on their five-game road trip. Trevor Lewis' shorthanded goal, the Kings' fourth of the season, tied the game 2:55 into the second period. He also assisted on Clifford's goal. Dallas is winless in its past five games and is 1-1-4 at home this season. Shawn Horcoff gave Dallas an early lead when he beat Quick top shelf with a wrister 2:37 into the game. Defenseman Jordie Benn set the table with a nice pass from the Dallas blue line to Vernon Fiddler, who was at the Kings' blue line. Fiddler passed to Horcoff, who first looked like he might go to the backhand. But after quickly switching to the forehand, he flipped the puck over Quick's left shoulder to make it 1-0. Lehtonen delivered a big save at 9:43 when he rebuffed a bid from the Kings' Marian Gaborik to slip a backhand inside the near post. The other quality chance for Dallas in the first period came with 6:15 left when Antoine Roussel hit the right post with a close-range shot from near the paint. The Kings tied it when Lewis beat Lehtonen with a backhander while Tanner Pearson was serving a hooking penalty. The sequence began when Lehtonen's attempt to clear the puck around the boards was intercepted by Jarret Stoll. He chipped the chipped the puck toward the net, and Lewis won a battle with Benn for possession in the right circle, then poked the puck into the slot, got Lehtonen to commit and scored his first goal of the season. Brown's goal came 14 seconds after the Kings captain was inadvertently knocked into Lehtonen, who finished with 27 saves. Stars defenseman Brenden Dillon was assessed a double minor with 3:48 left in regulation when he was called for high sticking Kings forward Justin Williams, who was cut on the play. The win was the first on the road for the Kings this season. Ruff had plenty to address in his postgame remarks to the media. One of the first things he mentioned was an 0-for-4 showing by the power play; the Stars are 5-for-29 at home this season. Ruff also took issue with the 19 giveaways the Stars committed, two of which led to the third-period goals by the Kings. Something else that remains an ongoing issue for the Stars is their poor play in the third period, where they have been outscored 16-8. Dallas is 1-3-1 when tied after two periods and the inability to finish games has been especially apparent on home ice.
Stars Quotes
Lindy Ruff: "We're sitting at 4-4-4, and we've got to get going in the other direction. We'll start with simple and build it back up again. We gave up a shorthanded goal, which really hurt us. Things have got to change. It's not working. We're going to change it. It's my responsibility to change the mentality. It's got to change. Some of it is just puck management. When I look at the sheet and I see 19 giveaways, we're not going to win hockey games. That's where I have to change the mentality. That's my job. Enough of the pond hockey. Enough of open plays."Cody Eakin: "That's something that's going to need to come from within. We've got to start being more comfortable in those tight games, and when we're tied going to the third we have to play the right way. Guys are trying hard. We have to play smart."
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